


Tell Me Your Story

by perrienova



Category: Little Mix (Band)
Genre: F/F, Ghosts, ghost au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-01
Updated: 2020-04-30
Packaged: 2021-02-28 18:33:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,032
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23431750
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/perrienova/pseuds/perrienova
Summary: Jade reads to headstones, and Perrie can’t help but be enamored by the first visitor in years.A short and sweet ghost story.
Relationships: Perrie Edwards/Jade Thirlwall
Comments: 16
Kudos: 48





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you Han @yousunshine-youtemptress on tumblr for telling me to write this!

Jade loved to drive. She liked to take the backroads and explore, listen to music, and just relax. Driving always took her mind off things. It was so automatic, but took just enough focus that none of her problems seemed able to infiltrate her brain. She was driving the backroads when she found it. 

The road leading up to it was cracked and full of potholes, the parking area a dirt clearing. The front gate was hanging off its hinges, a decrepit sign telling her “No Trespassing. Open Sunrise to Sunset. Gold Hill Cemetery.” Jade felt a longing, a yearning towards this place. She was overwhelmingly compelled to explore. 

Slipping through the half-fallen gate, Jade looked around her. The majority of the headstones were covered in moss, fences rusted, tree roots pushing many headstones to be crooked. There were fallen tree branches from the stormy winter preceding that spring, some grave markers wooden and rotting. The flowers that were placed at a few headstones were long dead and wilted away. The place was beautiful, and Jade was enamored. 

Jade began searching through the headstones to find the oldest one there. To find the youngest. To find the oldest. To find the one most taken over by the surrounding nature. She came across many from the 1910s and 20s, lives lost clearly to war and influenza. There was a headstone marking the grave of a three month old baby. Jade teared up. This poor baby has been alone for so long. 

Jade slipped back out the gate and unlocked her car, grabbing a book from the front seat. “The Last Painting of Sara de Vos.” It wasn’t quite suited for a baby, but it was the only book she had. She sat herself in front of the little baby’s small headstone, working to make out the name underneath the moss and weathering. Jonah? Joshua? Something that started with a J and had an A towards the end. She figured it didn’t matter. Despite being halfway through the book, Jade started from the beginning. 

“The painting is stolen the same week the Russians put a dog into space….” 

From behind a tree nearby, Perrie listened carefully to the story of the painting.

-

Jade went back later that week, unable to get the headstone of the baby out of her mind. It broke her heart. She returned with a book much more suited to the baby’s age, borrowed from her nephews. Mother Goose’s Nursery Rhymes. She sang some, read others she didn’t know the tune to. She read until the sun began to set and she could no longer make out the words. 

“I’m so sorry this happened to you, little one,” she said, after a long pause in her reading. “You deserved a long and happy life. But I hope I can be a small comfort after a long time spent alone.” 

She didn’t know what it was compelling her to speak, to read, to keep coming back. But Jade couldn’t help herself. 

A week later she returned to continue the story of “The Last Painting of Sara de Vos.” She figured it must have been annoying to anyone else listening that she left off part way through. 

The relief Perrie felt upon seeing this girl again was unspeakable. She’s been alone for so long, the comfort of her voice and the stories was insurmountable. Perrie sat atop a headstone next to sweet little Joshua’s, swinging her legs back and forth as she listened to the story. Her feet bumped against the cement headstone. 

Jade’s head snapped to the side, hearing a bumping noise. Nothing. There was nothing there. Shrugging it off, she continued reading. 

-

After weeks of reading to the baby’s headstone, Jade looked through her bookshelves for something she thought might be satisfactory for listeners of all ages in the cemetery. She didn’t know which people had stayed behind, so she wanted to cover her bases. She settled on “Alice in Wonderland.” It was her mother’s copy, printed in 1954. Upon arriving at her cemetery, something was immediately off. The half-fallen gate was wide open. Jade shrugged it off, supposing another visitor may not have been able to fit through the opening Jade had been sliding through. It was a warm spring day, but Jade felt a chill as she sat in front of the baby’s headstone. She closed her eyes, focusing as hard as she could. She knew someone else was there. 

“Hello?” Jade said, feeling a little silly. But someone was there, she could feel it. “My name is Jade, I’m just here to keep you company.” 

Perrie sat in front of Joshua’s headstone, her legs crossed in front of her. This woman, Jade, had sat on her legs. Perrie couldn’t find it within her to really mind. 

“Hello,” Perrie tried to speak, but as usual, no sound came out. “I’m Perrie, it’s nice to meet you.” Still nothing. She couldn’t hear her own voice. At this point, she’d forgotten what she sounded like. 

Jade sighed, opening Alice in Wonderland and beginning to read. 

-

Deciding everyone in the cemetery could do with a bit of a laugh, Jade brought along “Horseradish” by Lemony Snicket the following weekend. 

“One wanders through life as if wandering through a field in the dark of night, wearing a blindfold and very heavy shoes, with a poisonous toad waiting patiently beneath a clump of weeds, knowing full well that eventually you will step on him.” 

Perrie laughed delightedly. This was by far her favorite book her human had read to her. 

Jade stopped abruptly. A laugh like the tinkling of jingle bells rung out through the cemetery. She took a deep breath, knowing for sure now that she wasn’t alone.

“I’m glad you’re enjoying this book, it’s one of my favorites,” Jade said, praying silently for a reply. 

“It’s a joy to listen to,” Perrie said, extraordinarily surprised when she heard the words spoken aloud. She spoke. And she could hear it. Which meant her human could hear it too. 

Jade gasped. “I - I’m happy to hear that,” she managed to stutter out. “What’s your name?”

“Perrie,” the voice spoke, just barely a whisper above the light breeze in the air. 

Jade began her hunt. She searched through every headstone, determined to find a Perrie. FInally, she did. Perrie Edwards. Born July 10th, 1893. Died October 17th, 1918. Jade sat down at this headstone, deciding she might as well finish the book. 

As she read the final passage, the airy voice spoke again. “Thank you for your stories. This is a very lonely place.” 

Jade couldn’t help but wonder, “Why don’t you leave then?”

“I’ve tried, others have, but I get lost in the mist.” 

This took Jade a moment to comprehend. “I’m sorry to hear that. I’m here now though, I hope my company is enough.”

“It is more than enough.” 

“I’m gonna have to go, I’m sorry. The sun will be setting soon.” 

“That’s alright. Will you be back soon?” The voice - Perrie had such a deep melancholy. It broke Jade’s heart as much as the baby’s little headstone.

“As soon as I can be.” Jade was sure she would be back the next day. 

Sure enough, the next day Jade arrived bright and early just after sunrise. She carried with her “The Fellowship of the Ring.” 

“Hello? Perrie?” Jade called out, heading towards her gravestone. 

Leaves rustled nearby and Jade whipped around. She could hear the girl, but not see her. It was damn near infuriating. 

“Hello, my dear,” Perrie’s voice lilted. It was so light, like nothing in the world could darken it. But Jade could hear a yearning in her voice, knowing how the loneliness must get unbearable for this girl. 

“I’ve brought my mom’s favorite book. We won’t finish it today, but I’ll come back after work every day until we do.” Jade didn’t know where that promise came from, but as soon as she spoke it, she was sure that she would keep it. 

“Thank you, Jade. You don’t know what that means to me,” Perrie said. The tall grass beside Perrie’s headstone shifted as if someone was walking through it. 

Perrie sat down beside Jade, eager to hear the tale. 

“Tell me your story,” Perrie begged. 

“Of course.” 

Jade began the book, reading through the entire day until sunset, stopping only to eat the food she brought with her and converse lightly with Perrie. 

Jade knew that day that nothing would stop her from visiting this lovely ghost for as long as she lived. 

And it was so.


	2. Moonstruck

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for the support since publishing this first fic. I didn't plan on writing a part two, but I'm glad I did!

Perrie loved to listen to every story Jade read her. It had been almost a year now according to Jade. Perrie often lost track of time in the cemetery. Jade had read her comedies and tragedies, young adult fiction and biographies, and everything in between and Perrie couldn’t get enough. 

Some days, Jade would bring a book but they would never get around to reading it because Perrie couldn’t stop asking questions. What was the world like? Perrie could see cars passing the cemetery, could see the city lights in the distance from her place atop the hill, but what else had changed? Perrie swore she could have passed out when Jade showed her her smartphone. 

Today would be different. 

Jade had brought a book, “A Wrinkle in Time”, and was reading it passionately. 

“Without warning Meg was swept into nothingness again. This time the nothingness was interrupted by a feeling of clammy coldness such as she had never felt before. The coldness deepened and swirled all about her and through her, and was filled with a new and strange kind of darkness that was a completely tangible thing, a thing that wanted to eat and digest her like some enormous malignant beast of prey.”

“I know what she means,” Perrie said lowly. 

“Means by what?” 

“The nothingness. And the cold.” The lilt of Perrie’s breathy voice was carried by the breeze. “When you aren’t here, before you came here, sometimes it’s like I fade away. And there’s nothing there….I wonder if I’m even real, if I exist at all.”

Jade looked in the direction Perrie’s voice came from, hoping she was looking somewhat at her. 

“You exist. You’re so special, Perrie, you have no idea,” Jade said. 

“Well, I doubt you know many ghosts,” Perrie replied. 

“Not because you’re a ghost, because you’re you. You’re sweet and funny and just a delightful person to be around. I’m so happy we found each other. You’re a gem, Perrie.”

As Perrie listened, she was struck with a feeling she hadn’t thought she could experience still. 

Love. 

All sorts of feelings Perrie had vague memories of came flooding in. There were butterflies in her stomach, her fingertips felt tingly, her whole body felt jittery. Love. Perrie was in love. 

Jade let out a low yelp. 

Perrie’s head turned to where Jade was staring directly at her. To where Jade was making eye contact. Eye contact? 

“Jade?” 

Jade’s mouth lay agape. 

“I can see you.” 

Perrie looked down at herself. She could see her too. For the first time in over a century, she could see herself. Perrie’s hands clasped over her mouth as she gasped. She was wearing what had been her favorite blue dress, with a beautiful lace trim. Her mother had made this dress for her for Perrie’s eighteenth birthday. Another foreign yet familiar sensation came over Perrie. She felt tears in the corners of her eyes, her throat all choked up. 

Jade reached out a hand tentatively. Perrie sat absolutely still. What would happen, she wondered, now that Jade could see her. Could she touch her? How was any of this even possible? 

Gently, as if Perrie were a china doll, Jade’s hand came to rest on Perrie’s knee. It made contact. 

Perrie couldn’t help but gasp. She could feel Jade’s touch, the warmth of her hand against her cold, cold skin. The tears that had been threatening to spill poured over, streaming down Perrie’s cheeks. She was real.

Jade ran a careful hand up Perrie’s body, up her waist, along the length of her arm, tracing the curve of her neck, to rest upon Perrie’s cheek. 

“You are so beautiful,” Jade whispered. 

-

When Jade arrived at the cemetery, Perrie was sat lightly atop the broken gate. Her legs swung back and forth, heels kicking the metal grating. Jade beamed, waving to her. Perrie waved back, hopping down to push open the gate as far as the damaged hinges allowed. 

“I missed you,” Perrie called. Although she was corporeal, her voice still danced upon the wind like the wings of a bird. It was everywhere all at once, but so light and gentle that it wasn’t overwhelming. 

Jade reached Perrie, brushing a strand of wavy blonde hair behind Perrie’s ear. 

“I missed you, too.” Jade held up “A Wrinkle in Time”, wiggling it enticingly. “You ready to finish this today?”

“More than ready.”

Today, Perrie and Jade rested against the fence at the edge of the cemetery as Jade read. The longer Jade read, the closer Perrie inched towards her, until Perrie was nearly in Jade’s lap. Jade paused looking at Perrie. She stretched her legs out, carefully pulling Perrie down so her head rested in Jade’s lap. Jade continued reading and Perrie sighed contentedly. 

She was real. She existed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can find me on tumblr @lemoneyesharry!


	3. The Story Ends

PART THREE

“What if we just tried it?” Jade asked for probably the billionth time since she’d known Perrie. 

“I can’t take that risk, my love,” Perrie said, looking down at where Jade had her head rested on Perrie’s shoulder. 

“Now is the best time to take risks.” Jade stood up, Perrie following suit. Grabbing both of Perrie’s hands, Jade continued, “You’ll never know if you can leave the cemetery if you don’t try it.”

Perrie looked nervous. Jade kissed her forehead. 

“I’ll think about it….” Perrie said eventually. 

-

“At least come out to my car,” Jade said later that week. 

Perrie sighed. “If it makes you happy, I’ll have a look at your car.”

Jade kissed Perrie’s cheek. “It makes me wondrously happy.”

Leading Perrie by the hand, Jade showed her car to her. They sat together in the front seats, Jade showing what each button did. Perrie was mesmerized by the windshield wipers. Then, Jade turned on the radio. Perrie jumped. 

“What is that?” Perrie asked as a pop song played over the car speakers. 

“A song on the radio,” Jade said. “I don’t know the name.”

Perrie smiled, bopping her head along to the music. “I like it,” she said decisively. 

Giggling, Jade turned the car on, letting Perrie get used to the sound of the engine. 

“We could try taking you somewhere,” Jade said after a minute. 

Perrie was silent. 

“I know you said that people who left never came back, but maybe they just found different places they wanted to stay,” Jade said. 

“Maybe….” Perrie replied doubtfully. 

“Why not just try?” 

“Because what if I disappear and we can never see each other again?” Perrie finally asked. 

“It would suck but it might be better than being stuck in the cemetery,” Jade pointed out. Perrie seemed to be contemplating this. 

Jade waited patiently as Perrie seemed to think about this. 

After a long moment’s pause, Perrie said, “Alright.” 

Grinning, Jade put the car in reverse. Perrie apprehensively gripped the sides of the passenger seat, holding her breath. 

Perrie didn’t disappear. 

As they drove away from the cemetery, past the point where Perrie had seen the mist and had seen the people who disappeared in it, Perrie let out a laugh. Jade looked over at her. 

“You’re still here,” Jade said. 

“I can’t believe it.” 

Jade beamed, focusing on the road. More music played over the car’s speakers, some of which Jade sang along to as she drove. Perrie was enthralled as she watched trees whip past the car. After a while, they came up to Jade’s house. Jade was thankful then that she lived alone, because she had no idea if anyone else could see Perrie. 

Up in Jade’s room, Jade and Perrie sat on the floor, leaning against the bed. 

“This is so crazy,” Perrie whispered, almost to herself. As she spoke, Jade noticed that the sound came straight from Perrie instead of surrounding her like it always had before. 

Perrie turned to look directly at Jade. She held both of her hands, like Jade had done in the cemetery. 

“I need to tell you something,” Perrie said. 

Jade gave Perrie’s hands a reassuring squeeze. “Anything,” she said. 

“It’s been a long time since I died. A hundred years. And so much has changed and I’m confused by so much of it. But I now know one thing for sure, and that is the fact that I love you. And you don’t have to say anything back but I knew from the moment I saw you that you were special.” 

Jade thought back to every conversation she had had with Perrie. Finding out she had died of influenza, finding out she couldn’t remember most years between her death and now, finding out she was the first person Perrie had seen in years, and now, finding out that she loved her. And Jade knew the second Perrie said those words that she loved Perrie too. 

Jade dove in towards Perrie’s face, pressing her lips against Perrie’s. Perrie’s hands went from holding Jade’s to wrapping around Jade’s body. And it was magical. 

And then it was over. 

Jade opened her eyes and the space Perrie had been occupying was empty. She was gone. Jade rushed back to the cemetery, hoping she had reappeared there, but she was gone. 

The tears fell freely as Jade sat dejectedly in front of Perrie’s grave. 

“I had guessed that the more human you felt, the higher the chances of you moving on from this life,” Jade said, speaking to the air. “But god, I wasn’t ready. I hope that deep down, you were. I don’t know if you can hear me now but Perrie…I love you too.” 

They never got to finish A Wrinkle in Time.

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on tumblr @lemoneyesharry


End file.
